LR man draws 10-year term for crash that killed friend

A 26-year-old Little Rock man police say was driving faster than 100 mph when he crashed, killing his passenger and injuring two people in another car, has accepted a 10-year prison sentence.

Sentencing papers filed Wednesday show Jerry Wayne Joyner III has pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and two counts of second-degree battery in exchange for the prison term imposed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley.

Malik Deshun “King” Lewis, 21, of Little Rock died in the September 2017 collision on Asher Avenue near the Madison Street intersection. Joyner was driving a borrowed 2016 gray Charger west on Asher when the men crashed into a 2007 Chevrolet Corvette that had turned in front of them on Madison, injuring driver Jerry Jones of Little Rock and his passenger Sirisha Davis of Florida. The battery charges represent their injuries.

The resulting police investigation determined that Joyner was driving 111 mph when he struck the Corvette that was making a left turn off Madison, court filings show. At that speed, the Corvette driver “possibly could not have seen” Joyner’s car, according to the court records.

A shoeless Joyner, smelling of alcohol, was “incoherent” when investigators spoke with him in the immediate aftermath of the crash. He said he did not remember driving but his boots were found on the driver’s floorboard, court filings show.

Joyner said he was unhurt and declined emergency medical treatment, however when police took him to give a urine sample Joyner became physically ill and decided to go to the hospital.

Blood tests at the hospital showed that Joyner had a blood-alcohol level of 0.122, with 0.8 the level that presumes intoxication under the law. However, defense attorney Chad Green was able to bar prosecutors from using the records as evidence against Joyner because they were obtained by prosecutor subpoena when the law, changed about a month before the deadly collision, required police to get a warrant for such records.

Joyner told investigators he had “killed my friend,” stating that they had just left a nearby nightclub to go buy tobacco. Joyner said he had used the car of a friend, Viola Shaffer, because his own car had been boxed in at the club.